SAP-Ariba-Maximo Integration

This Nestle USA project was a companion project following, and overlapping with the Maximo implementation. It also crossed divisional lines, involving 30 factories in five different divisions. Despite divisions that operated fairly autonomously, Nestle re-assembled the original Maximo team with I/T resources from pet care, Maintenance resources from corporate and I/T resources from Frozen Foods. We hired SAP experts and a full-time Project Manager on a consulting basis, and then pulled in talented people from every division.

The goal was to integrate Maximo (MRO inventory and purchasing) with Ariba (e-commerce) and SAP (financials). The concept was simple. Maximo kept track of MRO inventory levels on a real-time basis, held desired quantities, and generated purchase requests (PR) automatically when reorder points were hit. When a Maximo PR was approved, it would generate a Maximo purchase order (PO) and an identical order in Ariba and SAP. For our trading partners, Ariba would transmit the order through EDI. For all other vendors, Ariba would automatically fax our order to them. When the item was received in Maximo, it would close the Ariba order, and authorize payment in SAP. We also integrated this with our automated workflow system, so the PO approvals were routed automatically through our email system.

Kudos to our technical folks for lashing these three "Best of Class" systems together. Our role was to help them understand the process map, as well as the field-to-field mapping that was needed. We also tested the work-in-progress continuously, and created and conducted the training for the purchasers at our factories.

Of course it is never quite as simple as the concept would make you think. Lots of thought had to go into what to do with partial orders, back orders, changes and cancellations. Each exception to a "normal" purchase had to be analyzed with a method created to handle it. As system experts, it was our role both to identify these unusual situations, and to suggest how each could be accommodated.

When it came time for our (on time) rollout, we executed it in three phases. A small number of factories that had the most Maximo experience were first, then a larger group, and finally those factories that had only been on Maximo a short time. At each rollout, we had an "expert" (like me) on site at each factory, conducting additional training, and "baby-sitting" the first week of live transactions. Coupled with technical experts on call around the clock to find and fix any errant transactions, every startup was successful with "business as usual" in the first week. None of our many thousands of transactions was held up more than an hour, and the most frequent problem was an incorrect fax number. (This went in our lessons-learned file, and was improved for each of the phases of our rollout).

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	This Nestle USA project was a companion project following, and overlapping with the Maximo implementation. It also crossed divisional lines, involving 30 factories in five different divisions. Despite divisions that operated fairly autonomously, Nestle re-assembled the original Maximo team with I/T resources from pet care, Maintenance resources from corporate and I/T resources from Frozen Foods. We hired SAP experts and a full-time Project Manager on a consulting basis, and then pulled in talented people from every division. The goal was to integrate Maximo (MRO inventory and purchasing) with Ariba (e-commerce) and SAP (financials). The concept was simple. Maximo kept track of MRO inventory levels on a real-time basis, held desired quantities, and generated purchase requests (PR) automatically when reorder points were hit. When a Maximo PR was approved, it would generate a Maximo purchase order (PO) and an identical order in Ariba and SAP. For our trading partners, Ariba would transmit the order through EDI. For all other vendors, Ariba would automatically fax our order to them. When the item was received in Maximo, it would close the Ariba order, and authorize payment in SAP. We also integrated this with our automated workflow system, so the PO approvals were routed automatically through our email system. Kudos to our technical folks for lashing these three "Best of Class" systems together. Our role was to help them understand the process map, as well as the field-to-field mapping that was needed. We also tested the work-in-progress continuously, and created and conducted the training for the purchasers at our factories. Of course it is never quite as simple as the concept would make you think. Lots of thought had to go into what to do with partial orders, back orders, changes and cancellations. Each exception to a "normal" purchase had to be analyzed with a method created to handle it. As system experts, it was our role both to identify these unusual situations, and to suggest how each could be accommodated. When it came time for our (on time) rollout, we executed it in three phases. A small number of factories that had the most Maximo experience were first, then a larger group, and finally those factories that had only been on Maximo a short time. At each rollout, we had an "expert" (like me) on site at each factory, conducting additional training, and "baby-sitting" the first week of live transactions. Coupled with technical experts on call around the clock to find and fix any errant transactions, every startup was successful with "business as usual" in the first week. None of our many thousands of transactions was held up more than an hour, and the most frequent problem was an incorrect fax number. (This went in our lessons-learned file, and was improved for each of the phases of our rollout). Home t Feedback